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Deville, Seville, Eldorado, Fleetwood, Calais, Brougham. What do all these names have in common? They’re all part of Cadillac’s past vehicle-naming strategy, which has since been replaced by an alphabetic trifecta such as CTS, SRX, and STS.

In having the pleasure of speaking off the record with a few Cadillac managers who are no longer with The General, we’ve gleamed an insight that explains the reason Cadillac embarked on the name change for its lineup.

Simply put, Caddy wanted to attract a younger buyer with new vehicle names, and all market studies at the time showed that alpha-numeric nameplates such as BMW 530i, Mercedes-Benz E320, Audi A6, and even the up-and-coming (at the time) Lexus ES300 resonated more effectively with a younger luxury car audience compared to Cadillac’s “old money” nomenclature.

The first step to switching the names came in the 1990s with the use of three-character alphanumerics within the Seville line (STS and SLS). Then in 2002, executives from Cadillac and General Motors approved the switch from a word-based lineup to one of three consecutive letters. The CTS led the charge in January 2002, followed by the rest of the model line.

Interestingly, there is still one vehicle in the Caddy lineup that carries a full alphabetic name — the Escalade. Our sources told us that the Escalade name, in particular, was a topic of much debate and dissent within GM’s ranks, with many providing research to keep the nameplate while others offering arguments against doing so. In the end, it was decided that the Escalade name would remain… but only until sufficient research was conducted in finding a suitable three-letter replacement. So far, the Escalade name has endured, but our sources expect it to eventually change, citing Mercedes’ decision to finally rebrand the historic and legendary Geländewagen (read: G-Wagon) to G-Class in order to keep name congruence with the rest of the Mercedes lineup.

Going forward, we don’t see Cadillac’s current alphabet soup of a naming setup changing anytime soon. But for those of you reading this, would you rather see the classic full-name nomenclature make a comeback, or have Caddy continue with the modern letter-only monikers?

I agree I really dislike the older nameplates. I own a regal and would probably enjoy it more (if just) if it had a cool name like TSX, or IS350. GM has an identity crisis a bit, they want to attract new “hip” consumers but also keep past customers. But I personally believe that no matter the name, the GM faithful will remain faithful. But you would have to be smoking copious amounts of grass to think younger affluent buyers would ever consider a Park Avenue, Monte Carlo, or Deville.

Buick has languished so long that few middle aged adults remember it (the young have even heard of it) and it’s models, and enclave and lacrosse are relatively new names. Anyway besides the regal, Buick is not aiming to be the sporty brand that cadillac is trying to be.

Cadillac namplates like seville, deville, etc… are remembered by all as the old guys car, after all since most of the recent GM cars have been subpar most buyers are coming from other brands.

But if the car is really good than people will love it regardless of what name it has.

Alex, great point….I personally love a car to be named….all those letters are very confusing really and seems to diminish the luxury brand of Cadillac….If buy ATS, most people won’t know what it is…I have to explain it is Cadilllac..that has already happened to me many times.

@Danny the alphanumeric names will take a while to “stick” (or permeate the market and become well-known). This is especially true for the ATS, which is an entirely new nameplate for Cadillac, and thus a new name for the rest of the world as well.

That said, I don’t see Caddy going back to the name-based naming strategy anytime soon… especially when Buick is the only remaining luxury player that uses the full names for its cars.

I wonder why you consider “cool” to name a car TSX and bad to name her Deville? Can you imagine Rolls Royce or Bentley abandon Phantom,Ghost, Continental, Arnage for SWG , BNG or nonsenses like this? No because they are not leadered by fools, but alas G.M seems to be plagued since too many years by uncompetents…

Buick should also have cool names to attract young buyers, i’m sure grandpa and granny won’t switch to MKZ (because of the new Buick name) if they always had Buicks.
If you ask a 20 year, what do you associate park avenue, regal and lacrosse with? he’d probably say his grand parents. GM, Buick needs a cool name too!

I didn’t mind the name change, after all STS was short for Seville Touring Sedan, DTS well not hard to figure that one out lol. I did have to tell people what the letters stood for when asked, now most people don’t care. It’s common for high end cars to have short monikers now. The letters on most don’t seam to stand for anything, but sound cool. As for Buick they can change the names all they want it always did and always will remind me of a grandpa car, though I did like the 70′ GSX and GNX from the 80’s…. see short monikers lol.

The post stating, if it is a good car people will buy it is right on, the lacrosse is a stunning car, well designed and well thought out, the issue really is competition, there will always in this market be competition one car company raising the bar even higher, let’s be real although most of us are on a budget, those who buy a brand new lacrosse/regal may say if I am dropping this kind of cash why not step up to next level or buy a used BMW ect… The used market is a whole nother story, GM new cars definately faceoff against used premium certified
Cars.

I really do not mind the name change among the “new Cadillac”. Cadillac completely reinvented itself and the new alphanumeric names were part of that reinvention. The research did show that younger luxury car buyers resonated with the alphanumeric names more than regular names because the cars with regular names were nowhere near as competitive in the market as those with the alphanumeric nomenclatures at the time. Example: Who would cross shop a 1998 Fleetwood with a 1998 E-class or BMW 5-series? We are talking apples and oranges here. For Cadillac to be taken seriously by younger buyers, they needed new names to show that the products were part of a “new Cadillac”. As for the Escalade nameplate, I am not sure it should change. We are on our 3rd Escalade and the name still has a very positive branding in the minds of people (at least among my experience with them; we currently own our 4th Escalade ESV).

Most of Buick’s names are already new. Enclave and Verano sounds luxurious. LaCrosse does not. Lucerne also sounded luxurious. . until I got to know the car. Regal is a good old name from the past that still works because its attached to a great product. Encore? I remember the Renault from the ’80’s. I like the Envision name better.

GM needs to do allot more to get their cars into peoples hands, the prospective buyers, there should be allot more come and drive our vehicles type events, many of us that post here know GM cars are great we drive them , heck I have a gm with 233,000 miles, hands down best car I have ever owned. I have owned foreign, made switch in 2000.

Cadillac’s alphabet soup of new names was certainly confusing to most people when they first started it. Now, the CTS (Catera Touring Sedan?) is fairly well recognized due to its longevity, lots of advertising and generally good press.

The STS, XLR and DTS are dead or three wheels in the junkyard. The upcoming ATS will have a fresh start as it’s not replacing anything and it’s not just another Chevy rebadge. The Escalade nameplate still resonates with the livery and security markets as well as a few niche and subculture markets. I doubt most people could tell you what the Escalade tack-ons – ESV and EXT – mean.

I loved GM’s old and storied nameplates because they used to mean something. Remember when you liked cars with names like Impala or Malibu or Skylark or Eldorado or Riviera? Yeah, the last time those were cool were in the 50s or 60s or maybe early 1970s. Unfortunately, like with all GM nameplates (with the exception of Corvette), GM denigrated and devalued them over its long, thirty year decline into the abyss (read Bob Lutz’s book, Car Guys vs Bean Counters for more insights into mediocrity) . It’s when badge engineering took over and practically every GM car was a rebadge of a cheap Chevy, with some trim changes.

So it’s no wonder that people associate the old names with something their parents or grandparents owned. Perhaps if there had been another Bill Mitchell or Harley Earl to convince management that design and engineering was more important than the cost accountants, we wouldn’t have lost Pontiac or even Saturn or Olds. And perhaps the new generation buyers would be interested in something called a Regal or Fleetwood rather than an Accord or A8.

I think Cadillac was right to break with the past and (this time) go with what their market research told them. With great product (I’m crossing my fingers for the ATS) and smart marketing, GM can establish new names (e.g., Cruze) or rehabilitate old nameplates (e.g., Camaro). It’s going to be tough; but I hope Lt. Dan Akerson doesn’t get impatient with his short-term thinking and lack of experience in the car business, and allows GM’s talented design and engineering departments to create great cars again.

The name changes was done right 4 Cadillac, it has to be holistic. The product has got to stand out, the marketing of the “new” product, the Design has to bring elements of change; in this case a complete 180 degree direction change 4 Cadillac. Personally I think the Cadillac transition was actually to slow, my goodness we Just now see a real 3 series fighter. There is no real flagship,
The only true reprasentative of the new approach has been the CTS, the STS never caught on. At the end of the day Caddy has been neglected, It time to complete the task, and have a full range of competitive products…

I hate the new naming scheme. I long for the days of the classic names such as Fleetwood, Seville, Eldorado. Classic names such as Rivera, Electra and Roadmaster are fitting. In my opinion, appealing to a younger market is about styling and product offering.

I hate the new names used by G.M for Cadillac’s cars. I own a 1979 Cadillac Seville and apart her class and style one important thing to distinguish her as a Cadillac is her name.

Calais, Sedan de Ville, Coupé de Ville, Eldorado, Fleetwood Brougham (d’Élégance and Talisman) Such names are legendary and I’ve been very sad when the new name system has been decided. I’m not sure that youngers buyers are more attracted with this change. Cadillac was the”standard of the world” in the past and proud to be American and different from her competitors. Just imitate blindly German’s manufacturers is not a good strategy because one wil always prefered the original to the copy.

It’s very fashionable today to spit on the land yachts like the 70’s Fleetwoods or Eldorados but they are the true Cadillacs, not those soulless clones of now.

Yes i am dreaming to own and drive a Fleetwood Brougham Talisman, to feel that sensation of floating on the road in complete silence, to touch the velvet Medici seats, to hear the powerful V8 of this majestic car roaring defiantly to the modern computer designed and ugly cars of the day.

I’m not dreaming of any actual Cadillac sadly because they inspire nothing to me apart sadness.